No Gambling

There is no gambling or betting or wagering at Eliters. No Cash is involved in all Eliters Tournaments.

The newest US Federal legislation of September 30, 2006 -- H.R.4411 "Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006" Sec. 5362 defines illegal betting or wagering as including "the purchase of a chance or opportunity to win a lottery or other prize (which opportunity to win is predominantly subject to chance)".

All Eliters.com (the Site) tournaments are based predominantly upon the players' skill, not chance.

Although Eliters is not involved in Cash Tournaments, and the distinctions between skill-based games and games of chance are clear, there are a few states within the U.S. that have not yet permitted skill-based games to be played for cash or prizes. Therefore, the following Eligibility terms will be adhered to:

A unique User Name will identify each Eliters Member.

• This Member User Name (ID) will be used to join any League at Eliters.
• All YEPs and US$ balances and transactions for this User Name will be kept in the Member Account.
• All statistics (matches results, tournament results, streaks, etc) for this User Name will be kept in the Player’s League Account.

The maximum length of Eliters User Name (ID) is 20 Characters, notwithstanding the Play Site ID.

New... Members may use the following characters in addition to Alpha and Numeric Characters:
- _ . / ( ) @ [ ] * ^ ! { }

Your Eliters User Name must match your Play Site (Yahoo!, Pogo) name exactly. If it does not match, you must:

• Either acquire the Play Site ID to match your Eliters User Name;
• Or change your Eliters ID to match your Play Site ID;
• Or create a new User Name in Eliters that matches your current play site name.

For this reason, you should always acquire the play site name before creating an Eliters account to match.

If you cannot acquire the same ID in a new Play Site, it is advisable to try to acquire the same ID in all Play Sites then change your present Eliters ID to this new ID before joining a League in the new Play Site. Premium Members are allowed though to have a different User Name for each Play Site.

Any difference in IDs will be considered a different User Name (Example: balouza is considered as a different ID from _balouza and balouza1).

Yahoo! IDs with .geo or @sbcglobal.net Affix

• Go to a Yahoo! game page; at the top left its says Welcome Your ID and an Edit button.
• Click on the Edit button and make a new ID (Alias). They maintain the original account ID and email.
• Make the Alias the default so you always come in the Game Room with that ID.
• Register or change your Eliters ID to match exactly the new Alias.
• Enter the Alias number on your Eliters account (usually it is 2), so when using the Tourney Page Room Link as a backdoor you will come in the Room with the right ID.
  

ID Removal

Your User Name will be removed in the following cases:

• If it contains profanity, sexual innuendo, or is offensive to others.
• If it is judged abusive to another member.
• If it is found to be too similar to an existing member’s. If you are a Premium Member, you will be offered to change your ID.

Eliters reserves the right to purge, remove, ban, or withdraw without notice, any Member proved to be violating the rules, including but not limited to:

• Cheating.
• Abuse of the system.
• Exchanging password, or allowing others to use their ID, or using other Members IDs.
• Being associated with a banned ID.
• Attacking or trying to damage Eliters.
• Harassment to other Members.

Premium Members may change their Elite User Name (ID) once every 2 months. You may change your User Name at Change ID.

Your Eliters ID must match your Play Site (Yahoo!, Pogo) name exactly. For this reason, you should always acquire the play site name before changing your Eliters ID to match.

User Names may not be changed:

• If the ID was withdrawn or banned or removed for any reason.
• If the ID was changed in the past 2 months. Eliters may consider, upon presentation of valid reasons, allowing once exceptional change of ID before the 2 months period; the Member will be charged 500 YEPs to process this request.
• If the Member is registered or playing in a Tourney or Challenge.
• If the Member is a TD and has an unfinished Tourney.
• If the New ID is already registered or taken. This is why you will not be able at any time to merge 2 IDs even if they are used in 2 different Leagues or Play Sites.

• Your Summary Player Stats (Tourneys, Victories, Matches) at each League will be transferred to the new ID.
  
• Your Summary TD Stats (Position, Tourneys Hosted, Total Players Participation) at each League will be transferred to the new ID.
  
• Your Previous Achievements in the Book or Records at each League, and in the Hall of Fame, will be transferred to the new ID.
  
• Your Already Awarded Badges, will be transferred to the new ID.
  
• Your Premium Membership, YEPs Balance and US Dollar Balance will be transferred to the new ID.
  
• Your Detailed Records of Tourney, Matches and YEPs will be DELETED.
  
• Your Stats towards achieving a Badge, if not awarded yet, will remain under the Old ID and you have to work your way again towards achieving a Badge.
  
• You will lose the right to play in the upcoming TOC, or MDC, or Invite Tourneys, or Events, if earned in the old ID.
  
• Your old Eliters ID will continue to be Reserved in our system for 2-3 months, and you won't be able to access it.
  

Eliters recognizes that in many cases more than one family member (or two or more people who share a household or an office) may have an Elite User Name on the same computer or at separate computers sharing networked Internet access. Also, sometimes people who work together or play out of Internet clubs and such may share network access. We welcome such extended participation, but certain rules must be adhered to:

• Users sharing a single computer or network or IP address are not permitted to enter or play in the same Tournament. Basically, this means that if, for instance, you log on to Elite from a friend’s house; you cannot both compete in the same tournament.
  
  
• Family members or those sharing a household may not enter the same Tournament as Partners in a PS (Player Select). However, if they are not using the same computer or network or IP address, they may enter the same Tournament as Single Separate Players (1x1 or 1x3) or with other Partners (2x2), and might even be partnered in an SS (System Select) Tournament.
  
  
• Each family member should have a separate Elite ID. They may not share the same ID. In this case, 2 active IDs might be using the same computer, and this requires them to notify VP Member Relations so they will not be considered as violating the above rule.

While we understand that such activity is usually innocent in nature, we nevertheless must be vigilant that individuals seeking an “edge” not be allowed to play multiple IDs off against each other to increase the chances of a tournament win. Therefore, all players are expected to follow the above policy, and repeated violations will result in summary banning of ALL Members involved, whether they meet each other in the tourney or not.

Premium Members are allowed to have as many Elite IDs as they want. However, it is not permitted to maintain more than ONE active ID playing at the same League (Game / PlaySite - Example: Backgammon / Yahoo!).

Exceptions to the above:

• A Premium Member may use 2 different Elite IDs in the same League, one as a TD and one as a Player. However, s/he cannot register in a Tourney hosted by him/her, and the TD ID should never be used as a Player in the same League.

• Each family member should have a separate Elite ID. They may not share the same ID. In this case, 2 active IDs might be using the same computer, and this requires them to notify VP Member Relations so they will not be considered as violating the above rule.

• Premium Members who run out of YEPs (YEPs balance below 50 YEPs) and choose not to purchase another Premium Membership, are creating new IDs so that they may continue playing tournaments. This is acceptable, as long as they have the Premium ID fully dormant and only 1 active Guest ID.

Any Member violating the above rules by attempting to maintain more than one active ID in the same League will be given the option to withdraw one of the IDs, otherwise the Admin will decide, at its own discretion, which ID to purge from that specific League.

Any Premium Member violating the above rules by attempting to create and maintain excessive numbers of IDs will be considered cheating and will be banned permanently from Eliters, all Stats will be deleted, including YEPs and US$ account, and will be charged with all YEPs earned illegally and damages caused.

Please remember that you cannot merge any IDs, and you cannot change your ID to another ID already registered in Eliters even if it belongs to you. This is why it is advisable to try first to acquire the same ID in all Play Sites then change your present Eliters ID to this new ID before joining a League in the new Play Site.

Guest Members are not permitted to maintain more than one ID to be used in all Leagues. This means that no additional ID will be allowed if the Guest cannot get the same name in all Play Sites.

At the same time, Guest Members who run out of YEPs and choose not to purchase a Premium Membership are creating new IDs so that they may continue playing tournaments.

Because excessive ID creation leads to a strain on the database and YEPs inflation, Eliters does not allow possession of multiple IDs by the same person. If you create a new ID to get more YEPs, you must withdraw your previous ID. Multiple IDs are subject to purging without warning. You may lose ALL your IDs if you play more than one of them actively.

IMPORTANT: For this reason, when a family member or friend or colleague creates an ID on your computer or on a shared ISP account, you must contact VP Member Relations and request an exemption from this rule. The VP Member Relations at his own discretion may grant exemption up to a maximum of 3 exemptions.

Any Guest Member violating the above rules by attempting to create and maintain excessive numbers of IDs will be banned permanently from Eliters, all Stats will be deleted, including YEPs and US$ account, and will be charged with all YEPs earned illegally and damages caused.

All members are required to provide Eliters with a functional Email address, so we may contact them on any matter related to their Elite Membership. 

Eliters will not sell or rent Email addresses to anyone. We keep these addresses solely so that Elite Administration can contact members when needed, and so that individual members may contact each other to arrange matches during Multi-Day tourneys.

Members are required to update their email whenever there is a change. It is to the Member’s advantage to keep his/her email updated because: 

• Otherwise s/he will not be able to request a lost password, as the password will be sent automatically to the email registered at Eliters 
• S/he will not be able to receive any Admin communication, notifications of special events, or support messages. 

The use of a false, inaccurate, or expired email address will result in:

• For Guest Members, purging of the account without notice. 
• For Premium Members, if it is necessary to send a warning notice to any premium member and the notice is returned as undeliverable, this will result in an immediate freeze of the Member Account. 
  

In order to maintain as streamlined a database as possible, Guest Memberships expire if the Guest is inactive for 90 Days. Expiration will result in Freezing the Membership. However, the Member ID, Stats and YEPs balance will remain in the database for 3 Months to allow upgrade to Premium Membership, after which the Member ID will be purged completely.

Purged Members may register again as Guests using the same purged ID.

Premium Members (Silver, Gold, Platinum or Diamond) need never fear being purged for inactivity. However in order not to overload with inactive Players, Members will be removed from any League if they have 0 Matches played after 3 Months of joining the League, or Less than 20 Matches in their Stats, and were inactive in that League for 12 Months. They may re Join any League anytime later.

The above rules do not apply in the case of Banned or Expelled Members for any reason including Rules violations or use of Multiple IDs – the Member IDs will lose all accounts balances and benefits as well as Player’s Stats and will never be allowed to re register.

Members may need to withdraw their ID completely from Eliters. This could be for a multiple of reasons, including the need to clear the way for registering a new ID without being considered having Multiple IDs.

All Members will be allowed to withdraw their membership from Eliters anytime, if they are not registered or still playing in a Tourney.

Withdrawing will result in Freezing the Membership and losing all Player Stats, Premium Membership benefits, and YEPs balances. However, the Member ID will remain in the database for 3 Months, after which the Member ID will be purged completely. Member ID will be then available to be used again.

Eliters may consider, in exceptional cases, reinstatement of Premium Members, against a charge of 500 YEPs.

Players may also need to withdraw from a specific League, either because they do not intend to play in that League anymore, or to have a fresh start in that League, or to keep his/her ID just in active Leagues.

specific Elite League (Backgammon Yahoo!, Cribbage Pogo) once every 3 months, if they are not registered or still playing in a Tourney in that specific League.

Eliters is proud to offer you rewards for your support of the League and your proficiency at Tournaments; you will have a visible and valuable marker of this.

You can use YEPs to pay the fees required to join any Elite Tournament in any League, and to enter specific Money Tournaments. Read more on What to do with YEPs?

All Members have access to their detailed YEPs Log at this site. The YEPs Transactions may be filtered:

• By League
• By Tourney ID (EDS ID, Regular Tourney ID, Mini ID or Challenge ID = 1, Other or Gold Box = 0)
• By Transaction Group (All, Tourneys, Challenges, EDS, Hosting, and Other)
• By Debit and Credit amounts (YEPs IN and OUT)

• YEPs have no Cash value.
  
  
• YEPs cannot be transferred between Members, except:
  
  
  • From TDs to Members as Tournament Bonuses.
  • From Admin to TDs as TD Bonuses.
  • From All Premium Members to Guest Members to Refill their account.
  • Monthly allowed Transfers from Platinum and Diamond Members to Other Members.
    
    
• YEPs are forfeited in the event your account is purged, removed, or withdrawn.
  
  
• YEPs are forfeited if you are caught cheating in Tournaments or in the YEPs program.
  
  
• Eliters reserves the right to forfeit or confiscate any YEPs acquired illegally or through systems error.
  
  
• Eliters reserves the right to cancel or modify the terms of this program at any time without prior notice or authorization. The current rules will always be found on this page. 
  

Caution:The solicitation of YEPs or Membership from other Eliters, whether in the lobbies, game tables, or by IM/email, is expressly forbidden. This makes the Member being solicited very uncomfortable. Occasional, “joking” references will be overlooked.

• You can select the Club you wish to check from a Drop Down List; also you may check all Leagues Clubs using one click.
• On the main Club page, you are proivided with a Message List showing the Message number, the subject, the author, and date.
• You may Post a New Message or Replay to another Message with one click, the message will show your ID, and if it is a reply to another message the author and number of this message.
• You can Delete the message after posting it, and type a new one.
• You can Search for any message using the Message Number.
• You can Search all messages for a Keyword or Multiple Keywords.
• You can see a list of all or Direct Replies to the message.

• Posts containing profanity and/or lewd or suggestive language.
  
  We are not going to delete posts because somebody says “damn”, but we will not allow vile and offensive displays of gutter language.
  
  
• Posts containing negative comments regarding specific individuals or groups.
  
  There are always at least two sides to an issue, and no reader of any post can be assumed to be acquainted with the intricacies of the issues raised.
  
  For this reason, civility alone dictates that there be no “finger-pointing”.
  
  If you have a problem with a TD, you should write to the League’s HA, and if the matter is not resolved at the League level, you may report it to the Staff Relations Director.
  
  If you have a problem with another Elite Member, you should write to VP Member Relations.
  
  At no time should such issues be aired in a public forum, it is unfair to those accused and disruptive of our goals as a League, which include attempting to resolve all disputes as fairly and unemotionally as possible.
  
  In a related vein, we will have to delete all posts defending other Members or trying to counter an attack on another individual. While we understand that it can be frustrating to see accusations of misbehaviour directed at friends you believe to be honorable, the Clubs cannot be a forum for the defense of individuals, because it is inconsistent with the rule that we cannot attack individuals. Also, it is our experience that such defenses frequently backfire by further publicizing the accusation itself.
  
  
• Posts announcing withdrawals or resignations.
  
  Posts announcing withdrawals or resignations in the General Club will be deleted. If someone has personal issues that prevent them from playing or hosting and wants to post in the league they are involved, without pointing fingers or attacking anyone, that will be allowed. 
   
  This Club does not exist to indulge our egos. It is not possible to make everyone happy all the time. If you are unhappy for any reason, there are channels to go through, and you will be heard. 
   
  Any Club message by any Member announcing his/her withdrawal/resignation publicly, attacking anyone or setting forth a personal agenda, and any replies to such messages will be deleted.
  
  
• Posts containing advertising or solicitation.
  
  This should be self-explanatory. We do not want our clubs to be inundated with commercial or quasi-commercial spams, nor do we think it is constructive to allow our members to solicit funds from each other publicly, no matter how worthy the cause.
  
  Since we cannot investigate all Sites or Products to judge their safety and seriousness, or check all solicitations to judge their "respectability", we allow none.

Eliters was founded with the specific goal of establishing a league that was governed by principles of civility and good sportsmanship. We take the maintenance of these standards very seriously, as this is what sets us apart from other established leagues on the Net. Friendly people and clean fun is what Eliters is all about. There are other leagues better suited to aggressive, in-your-face play and behavior.

Our tournament Directors and other Staff are specifically instructed to take as a high priority the maintenance of discipline in our game lobbies and at our game tables. By far the majority of our players have gravitated to us because they have learned that they can rely on Eliters to keep them from being subjected to aggressive, boorish behavior and unsportsmanlike conduct.

Accordingly, the first principle of Eliters is:

Players are expected to conduct themselves in a civil manner and treat all others with respect. Failure to do so is cause for disqualification from a Tourney. Repeated unacceptable behavior is cause for removal from the League.

In a general sense, this is what we expect of all Elite Members and Staff: 

• Members are expected to read and abide by Eliters policy regarding multiple IDs.
• Obscene language and aggressive trash talking are unacceptable in Eliters. 
• Personal attacks, or the taunting/denigration of members, league or staff are unacceptable. 
• Any harassment of or vocal, public dispute with Eliters staff is unacceptable. TD decisions are final and not open to dispute on the spot. There are channels for the advancement of complaints: any TD will tell you how to use them. 
• Any abuse of Eliters Messenger is unacceptable. Eliters Messenger is for factual tournament communication only, not for chatting or arguing with the TD. If you think the TD has made an error, or are unhappy with anything else, then IM the TD, or call him to a table.
• The solicitation of YEPs or Membership from other Eliters, whether in the lobbies, game tables, or by IM/email, is expressly forbidden. This makes the Member being solicited very uncomfortable. Occasional, “joking” references will be overlooked.
• Delay or obstruction of tournament play is not acceptable: players must be on time and must contest their tourney matches expeditiously. 
• Players are expected to be familiar with all Eliters tournament general rules and game-specific rules of the leagues in which they are registered, and to abide by these rules. 
• Players are expected to promptly report all matches they have lost to the tourney page. 
• Any form of cheating is cause for immediate banishment from Eliters. Any attempt to participate in any Tournament or Game offered on Eliters or any associated Play-Sites by means of automatic, macro, programmed, computer-assisted or similar methods, or to otherwise commit fraud with regard to the Site, will result in civil and/or criminal prosecution, termination of your account, and forfeiture of any account balances and all prizes to which you may have been otherwise entitled to.

An extensive list of categories of unacceptable behavior and a discussion of the penalties for such can be found at the end of this section under "Rules Enforcement". 

It is in the best interests of all Eliters, staff and players alike, that we have consistent and logical enforcement of all rules.

Accordingly, we have defined around 40 different categories of rules violations, ranging from such inadvertent problems as No Show in tourneys up to actual, verifiable cheating by players. For each category we have specified a series of enforcement actions that should be undertaken by League and/or Corporate Management.

The ultimate penalty for any repeated violation of League policies and rules would be the termination of the member's account. However, the system provides several notification levels before this happens, beginning with just a "Note on File" and progressing through "Tourney Disqualification", "Final Warning", and various amounts of time in the "Penalty Box", to outright termination "Purge" of account in extreme cases.

Penalties imposed by TDs during tourneys

Note on file
Verbal warning
Time out
Disqualification

Penalties imposed by the VP Member Relations

1st warning
2nd warning
3rd warning
Final warning
Penalty box/League 3 Days
Penalty box/League 7 Days
Penalty box/League 14 Days
Penalty box/All 3 Days
Penalty box/All 7 Days
Penalty box/All 14 Days
Kick from League
Purge from Elite
Ban ID
Ban user

Guest Members may not be sent any warnings, depending on the gravity of the violation; they might be subjected to the higher penalty on the first occurrence.

There are two types of penalty box: "League" and "All". League boxes will be used for most offenses, in terms of 3, 7 or 14 days. A player in the League penalty box will be barred from registering in any tournaments hosted by that particular League, but will still be able to participate in tournaments in other Elite Leagues. Players in the all-Leagues penalty box, of course, will be unable to participate in any Eliters tournaments as long as they are boxed.

A complete list of violations follows. Please note that not all violations will use the full range of warnings/penalty boxes. Actual enforcement is at the discretion of the VP MR, and will depend upon the severity and frequency of violations. 

Harassed Players - Arguing or Fighting in Lobby
Harassed Players - Cussed Opponent during Game
Harassed Players - Disrupted Other Players
Harassed Players - Publicly Accused Others
Harassed Players - Sent Disruptive IMs
Harassed Players - Used Foul Language
Harassed TD - Attacked TD or other Staff
Harassed TD - Booted TD from Table
Harassed TD - Complaints and Argument in Lobby
Harassed TD - Discussed Elite Rules in Lobby
Harassed TD - Disputed TD Ruling in Lobby
Harassed TD - Disrupted TD Performing his Job
User Name - Does Not Match Play Site
User Name - Multiple IDs
User Name - Used 2 Play Site IDs
User Name - Similar ID to Another Player
Tourney Play - Abused Eliters Messenger
Tourney Play - Late Arrival
Tourney Play - No Show
Tourney Play - Broke Game-Specific Rules
Tourney Play - Cheated
Tourney Play - Kibitzed
Tourney Play - Forced Forfeit
Tourney Play - Intentionally Lost
Tourney Play - Claimed False Win
Tourney Play - Failed to Finish 3rd Game of RR
Tourney Play - Left before Game was over
Tourney Play - Didn't Report Loss
EDS - False Report
EDS - Avoiding to Play Matches
Slow Play - Not Accepting Invites
Slow Play - Lagging/Freezing
Slow Play - Repeated Disconnections
Slow Play - Intentional Delay
Membership - Excessive Multiple IDs
Membership - Use of Inappropriate User name
Membership - Wrong e-mail
Membership - Posted negative Club Message
Membership - Attacked other Players in Club
Membership - Attacked Elite Admin in Club
Membership - Solicitation of YEPs or membership
Membership - Abuse of System
Membership - Public Attack of Elite Management
Membership - Public Attack of EliteLeague 

NB: Records of violations are only kept current and active for 3 months. In other words, no Eliters member who has occasional, widely spaced infractions of League rules has any reason to fear any enforcement more severe than a warning letter.